Five St. Peters Post 313 Players Named to All-Star Team

Five players from the St. Peters Post 313 American Legion baseball team made the cut for the North/South AAA All-Star team this year.

“It’s a great thing,” Post 313 coach Marty Clements said. “I just try and help them play better baseball. They did this on their own—it’s a tribute to their hard work.”

Pitcher Tim Miller, designated hitter Eric Keling, first baseman Blake Hetelle, third baseman Tyler Rutledge, and outfielder Austin Holtgrieve all made the all-star team for St. Peters. Post 313 finished the season with a 15-14 mark. Its season came to an end with a 7-0 loss to the West Legion on July 16 in district play.  

“We played a lot of tough teams,” Clements said. “We played in a tough tournament in Kansas City and another in Edwardsville and we have West, Washington, and St. Charles in our league.”

Miller threw a perfect game early this summer but was sidelined from pitching in the last half of the season due to an arm injury. He graduated from in the spring and will play baseball for William Jewell College, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school in Liberty, MO, next year. Clements said it was nice to see Miller have the opportunity to continue at the next level and that he would like to see him succeed in college.   

Keling graduated from in the spring and will continue his baseball career next year at Maryville University, a Division II school in St. Louis. Although Keling made the all-star team as a designated hitter and hit .355 this summer, he proved his versatility by pitching and playing catcher. Like Miller, he didn’t pitch in the last half of the season due to an arm injury, but his injury didn’t prevent him from throwing out base runners.

“He has an incredible arm,” Clements said. “There are not many catchers with an arm like he has. Whenever anyone tried to steal I had to smile. I knew they would be thrown out.”

Clements said Hetelle, who graduated from last spring, is looking to play baseball in college next spring but is undecided on a school. The all-star selection hit .427. In addition to playing first base, Hetelle was also Post 313’s No. 1 pitcher, a designated hitter and outfielder this summer.  Clements said it was fun watching Hetelle “grow as a pitcher and player.”

Rutledge will return to Fort Zumwalt South High School for his senior year this fall. He  hit .352 and played both third base and shortstop this summer. Rutledge distinguished himself by striving for perfection

“He hated making errors and striking out,” Clements said. “If he made an error he wanted to make up for it with a hit and if he struck out he wanted to make up for it with a good play.”

Holtgrieve will continue his baseball career at Lindenwood University, a Division II school in St. Charles, next year. In addition to playing outfield and finishing the summer with a .314 batting average, Holtgrieve also played first base, catcher, and shortstop. Clements said “it was a pleasure” to coach the college bound baseball player and also called him “a coaches dream.”